Muscle Gain Workout

Hunter From Gladiators Is STILL Ripped. This Is How He Does It

Every week, we'll be bringing you a new workout to try that will bring you one step closer to your goals. It's called – drumroll please – the Workout of the Week. Each one is written by experts in their field; we're talking to celebrity PTs, professional athletes, specialist brands and champion sports coaches, all of whom are here to give you the body you want.

WHO'S MY NEW PT?

Remember Gladiators? That hit TV show from the 90s where contestants had to battle a group of outrageously well-built Gladiators in physical challenges? Specifically Hunter, the bloke with a bicep twice the size of your girlfriend's thigh? That, gents, was James Crossley. And he just happens to be your new PT.

James spent nine years as Hunter, terrifying contestants at the end of the Gauntlet challenge, and has 15 years experience as a PT. The man has put serious hard work into his body and looks like a walking tank – unsurprisingly, he specialises in muscle gain and fat loss.

Time to pack on some mass #gainz. Over to you, James...

WHAT ARE WE DOING?

This is a method I have used for years to pack on muscle mass: We call it PowerBodybuilding.

Let’s take chest, for example. After a good warm-up, we have a big power exercise and aim for 3-5 reps for 5-7 sets. The reps should be performed explosively but in good form and with full range of motion.

The second exercise needs to be a big compound movement and we aim for 8-10 reps of 4 sets, concentrating on squeezing the muscles and slowly lowering the weight each rep.

The third exercise is an isolation exercise, aiming for 12-15 reps of 3 sets (or even as high as 20 reps) and really concentrating on the tension during every part of the repetition.

We are hitting both the fast and slow twitch muscle fibres using this technique, which I find is a great way to build both muscle and strength.

WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR?

This is great for someone that wants to pack on some head-to-toe muscle. Ideally, have a training partner on hand to help during the heavy reps.

DIFFICULTY LEVEL

This is an intermediate workout for someone that has at least 6-12 months basic training under their belt. Remember to log your workouts so you can monitor the progression.

THE WORKOUT

Today we're going to focus on chest and biceps. It's going to take you about an hour. Enjoy.

A quick word on tempo

Tempo is the most overlooked parts of training that I see in commercial gyms along with a bad range of motion.

Remember, the muscle responds to time under tension.

The tempo outlines the speed of each exercise. Every exercise has 4 phases to it: the lowering, time between lowering and lifting, the lifting and the time between lifting and lowering. If we use the example of a bench press at a 4011 tempo, you would lower the bar to your chest for 4 seconds, no pause at the bottom, lift the weight in 1 second, then hold at the top for 1 second and repeat. The letter X means explosive.

Okay, let's do this.

Start with a warm-up: A light jog on the treadmill or some time on the bike to get the blood pumping.

A Bench press

5 Sets x 3-5 reps.

Tempo: 20X1.

Rest 90-120 seconds

B Incline Dumbbell Press

4 sets x 8-10 reps

Tempo: 3110

Rest: 60-75 seconds

C Decline Flies

3 sets x 15-20 reps

Tempo: 2110

Rest 30-45 seconds

D Standing Barbell Curls

4 sets x 5-7 reps

Tempo: 2110

Rest: 75-90 seconds

E Lying Bicep Curls

3 sets x 8-10 reps

Tempo: 3110

Rest: 60 seconds

F Cable curls

3 sets x 15-20 reps

Tempo: 2111

Rest: 30-45 seconds

STRETCH: Make sure you stretch off after that beast of a session!

James has just launched Gladiators Ready Bootcamps in Marbella for groups of 6 or more. Just be prepared to feel the burn (not of the UV variety).